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Toot the trumpets. Bang the drums. Here’s my honour roll of the best in gardening during 2012.

Best Drought Tolerant Flower: The indefatigable zinnia. A total champ during our Arizona desert of a summer. Everything else in my flower beds dithered, drooped or died. Yet my “flowers of Mexico” churned out an eye-popping parade in various pinks, scarlet, orange, yellow and mauve that lasted for weeks. And I didn’t water once. Biggie blooms are best. (Skip the wishy-washy small new white varieties.) I grew mine from seed, but garden centres, take note: Let’s see more zinnias as started plants, now that our summers are getting hotter. Superlative source for seeds: Renee’s Garden at reneesgarden.com.

Best Garden Décor:Solar planters from Loblaws. So clever. Such a novelty. Elegant white urns that light up at night in a rainbow of colours. Simple to assemble too. And no batteries required. Once the sun went down, my summer visitors put down their vino, fascinated. More pluses: these planters are designed and made in Canada, creating local jobs. And they’re sturdy. Leave them outside all winter. About $60. On sale again next spring.

Best Gardening Event: Woman to Woman at the Toronto Botanical Garden. So glam. Such fun. A female-only affair. A rare opportunity to dress up in a pretty frock and silly hat, then swan around a flower-filled garden, Pinot Grigio in hand. Chic little nibblies served in white tents. A Chelsea Flower Show vibe. I haven’t felt so elegant, dahling, in ages. The TBG fundraiser is on again next June. Tickets: $150 each.

Best New Development in Edibles: Grafted tomato plants. Done for decades with roses. Now it’s the turn of tomatoes. I got a sneak peek at the first harvest last August at Stokes Seeds in Niagara. Wow. Giant tomatoes. Terrific taste. And one container-grown plant produces loads of fruit. More about this in a New Year column. And watch for these “new age” tomato plants to hit garden centres come spring. I predict that they’ll be the hottest thing to grow in 2013.

Best new shrub:Physocarpus Amber Jubilee. I’m a fan of the Physocarpus family (a.k.a. Ninebark). So colourful. So easy. So tough. But they do get BIG. If your garden is small, try this new teenage version developed at Jefferies Nurseries near Winnipeg. Yellow and orange foliage in summer, purple in fall. Beautiful. Hardy to Zone 2. And it will even fit in a container. Named in honour of the Queen, who took part in the first ceremonial planting during a recent tour of Canada. Sheridan Nurseries sells it.

Sonia’s latest book, The Untamed Garden, A Revealing Look At Our Love Affair With Plants, has won Gold from the U.S.-based Garden Writers Association. More at soniaday.com

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